Global Friends Through Postcards Exchange: Building Bridges

Teacher introduces the postcard exchange project by explaining that students will create and send postcards to children in another country, sharing simple examples of real postcards and discussing what makes them special and exciting.

Students explore the project purpose through a brief discussion, understanding that they will become pen pals with children from another country and share things about themselves, their school, and their culture.

Teacher presents the project timeline and explains that each student will create one special postcard to send to their new friend, building anticipation for the global connection.

Students participate in a simple teacher-guided activity to introduce themselves, their classroom, and their school through drawings, photos, or a collaborative class poster.

The class records a short video message where students say their names and wave to their future pen pals, helping create a warm first connection.

Teacher posts the class poster or introduction video on the Class2Class board so the partner classroom can begin learning about the students and their school.

Teacher guides students in a simple discussion about what they would like to share with their new friends about their everyday lives, such as family, home, favorite foods, games, celebrations, or animals.

Students contribute ideas through drawings, shared speaking, or teacher dictation, helping identify meaningful things that make their lives and community unique.

The class reflects together on which ideas they are most excited to include in their postcards, preparing for the next stage of the project.

Students participate in guided exploration of their own culture through simple classroom discussions, family input, drawings, photos, or meaningful objects from home.

Each student chooses a few favorite things that represent something special about their life and community, such as a local market, family tradition, local animal, favorite food, or important place.

Teacher helps students organize these materials and ideas so they can later use them to create their postcards.

Students begin creating their postcards by adding drawings, photos, or simple visual elements that represent themselves and something about their country or school.

Teacher supports each student in writing or dictating a short postcard message, such as their name, age, school name, favorite thing, or one sentence about their life.

Students present their postcards to classmates, building confidence and excitement before mailing them to their partner school.

Before finalizing the postcards, each student is introduced to their assigned pen pal. With teacher support, students write or copy their pen pal’s name as the recipient on the postcard, while the mailing address remains the partner school’s address.

The class prepares the postcards for mailing, with teacher support for packaging, labeling, and sending them to the partner school.

Students create a class display showing the postcards before they are sent.

Teacher uploads photos of the completed postcards to the Class2Class board so the partner class can preview them while waiting for international delivery.

Teacher leads a simple reflection discussion about what students enjoyed most during the project preparation stage and what they are most curious to learn from their new friends.

Students share responses through drawings, simple words, or storytelling, and the teacher records key ideas on a reflection poster.

Students complete a simple self-reflection activity using emojis or teacher-guided prompts to express how they feel about making new friends and participating in a global project.

(4–8 weeks later, depending on international mail delivery)

When the postcards arrive, students open and explore them together, noticing words, pictures, and cultural details from their pen pals

Students respond through discussion, drawings, thank-you messages, or a simple video to celebrate the exchange.

Teacher helps students reflect on similarities and differences between their lives and those of their new friends, building intercultural understanding and global friendship.

The class may create a final display or gallery of received postcards, reflections, and student responses to share with families and the school community.